Inside the ‘cozy’ relationship that’s rocked DC: How Republican lawmakers’ fondling on the House floor and late-night hand-holding has set the Capitol buzzing as he files for divorce from bombshell wife of 12 years

Republican lawmaker Rich McCormick and U.S. lawmaker Beth Van Duyne have developed a particularly cozy relationship just as McCormick and his wife filed for divorce.

Footage from the March 7 State of the Union address shows McCormick caressing Van Duyne’s arm, and sources say this is common for the apparently loved-up couple.

They have been caught arriving and leaving events together late at night, and multiple eyewitnesses have spotted the pair holding hands just off the House floor.

Insiders have revealed to DailyMail.com new details about the nature of the couple’s alleged relationship, which has blossomed on Capitol Hill.

It’s hard to miss handsome McCormick and tall, lean blonde Van Duyne strolling the halls of Congress, making a striking duo in a building full of old men, say the staff.

McCormick, a year and a half into his first term in Congress, filed for divorce from his oncologist wife, Dr. Debra Miller. A restraining order was also filed, DailyMail.com exclusively reported on Thursday.

McCormick and Miller, his second wife, share seven children and live in Suwanee, Georgia.

Miller has been practicing medicine for more than 30 years. With her long, blonde locks, it’s hard to miss the similarities between her and Van Duyne.

“Rich clearly has a type,” said a source close to the congressman.

When contacted about the reason for the divorce, Miller texted DailyMail.com: “I’m sure he won’t come.”

Van Duyne has two children with her ex-husband, Chris Wallach, her college sweetheart from their days at Cornell. The couple divorced in 2012 after 17 years of marriage.

A single mother, she served as mayor of Irving, Texas from 2011 to 2017 and also served at the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Trump administration.

She has not been free from scandals in recent years.

In February 2021, Richard Dillard, communications director for her 2020 campaign, took his own life in front of Van Duyne’s home in Irving, Texas.

According to sources with knowledge of the matter, she is known to love to party and enjoy a nice glass of wine.

As one of the younger female members of the Congress, largely dominated by older men, she shines among the weathered congress members and has an infectious personality.

A GOP member told DailyMail.com that they saw McCormick and the colleague “holding hands under the table” during a weekly lunch.

Additionally, the member also revealed that they witnessed Rich “grabbing her back” on the floor of the House of Representatives during the vote.

Two more eyewitnesses say they saw him and Van Duyne holding hands, with one witnessing the pair leaving votes.

When asked if the divorce involved an alleged affair he may have had with a co-worker, his soon-to-be ex-wife Miller replied: “You’ll have to ask Rich and his co-worker.”

Miller has been practicing oncology for more than 30 years.

A third witness told DailyMail.com they saw the female colleague holding McCormick’s arm as she walked out of the Longworth Office building late at night.

Asked about the cozy behavior and separation, a spokesperson for McCormick told DailyMail.com: “Congressman McCormick and Dr. Miller have been divorced for some time. He has kept that private and will continue to keep his personal life out of the media spotlight.”

Republican Van Duyne’s office in Texas declined to comment on her relationship with McCormick.

Rich and his soon-to-be ex-wife were recently pictured together over the Christmas holidays.

McCormick’s Facebook account says the couple married on August 16, 2011.

McCormick spent more than two decades as a pilot in both the Marine Corps and Navy and was also an emergency room physician at Gwinnett Medical Center in Georgia.

He is in his first term in Congress, having joined in January 2023. He ran unsuccessfully for Georgia’s 7th District in 2020 against Democrat Carolyn Bordeaux.

In November, McCormick was the lead author of a censure resolution for Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., for “promoting false narratives about the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the State of Israel.”

Shortly afterwards, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who had also introduced a Tlaib censure that was unsuccessful, accused McCormick of becoming physically aggressive toward her.

Sources told CNN that during a private meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson in December, Greene claimed her male colleague “grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her” and asked the speaker to address the issue.

“I understand why there would be a lot of raw emotions after the censure vote, as her censure was tabled and mine was passed. My intention was to encourage Representative Greene by offering a friendly gesture,” McCormick said.

He denied being physically aggressive towards her.